I chose the Maldives after seeing a play called Heretic last night and a good choice it was.
Quite an interesting history and, I suppose like the history of most countries, a lot of contentious happenings. Interesting things (perhaps not all facts!) that I read:
* The Maldives had an enormous quantities of cowry shells in the early ages when they were an international currency. The Maldives were therefore known as the ‘Money Isles’. The cowry is now the symbol of the Maldives Monetary Authority.
* The Maldives was granted independence on 26 July 1965 and later became a member of the UN.
* In 1998 a group of disaffected Maldivian businessmen attempted a coup taking 27 hostages and leaving 14 people left dead and 40 wounded. Apparently many tourists didn’t even know that a coup had been attempted.
* Maldivians have their own 'Black Friday' in which reformist and pro democracy campaigners gathered in the capital's main square under the apparent blessing of the Government only to be later cleared out with the arrest and beating of over a thousand people in the process.
* The 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami was devastating for the Maldives with 21 islands devastated, 83 people confirmed dead, 25 feared dead and more than 11,000 made homeless. Many of the homeless continue today as internally displaced persons. (Imagine being an IDP.)
* In attempt to draw attention to climate change (there are claims that the Maldives is sinking due to rising sea levels) the Maldivian Government had an underwater cabinet meeting in 2009. There have also been Gov pledges to Maldives carbon-neutral within a decade. (Thought I read somewhere that they excluded air travel from this...)
Naturally all this led me off on a tangent looking up sea levels and global warming and the Maldives....and not coming up with a whole lot to answer my questions in the end. Still that wasn't the aim so overall: Day 6 goal achieved, and a good one at that! I can imagine doing this every day for a month for different places each day.
Various places I visited on my journey: The Maldives, Lonely Planet, The Guardian, New York Times.
Quite an interesting history and, I suppose like the history of most countries, a lot of contentious happenings. Interesting things (perhaps not all facts!) that I read:
* The Maldives had an enormous quantities of cowry shells in the early ages when they were an international currency. The Maldives were therefore known as the ‘Money Isles’. The cowry is now the symbol of the Maldives Monetary Authority.
* The Maldives was granted independence on 26 July 1965 and later became a member of the UN.
* In 1998 a group of disaffected Maldivian businessmen attempted a coup taking 27 hostages and leaving 14 people left dead and 40 wounded. Apparently many tourists didn’t even know that a coup had been attempted.
* Maldivians have their own 'Black Friday' in which reformist and pro democracy campaigners gathered in the capital's main square under the apparent blessing of the Government only to be later cleared out with the arrest and beating of over a thousand people in the process.
* The 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami was devastating for the Maldives with 21 islands devastated, 83 people confirmed dead, 25 feared dead and more than 11,000 made homeless. Many of the homeless continue today as internally displaced persons. (Imagine being an IDP.)
* In attempt to draw attention to climate change (there are claims that the Maldives is sinking due to rising sea levels) the Maldivian Government had an underwater cabinet meeting in 2009. There have also been Gov pledges to Maldives carbon-neutral within a decade. (Thought I read somewhere that they excluded air travel from this...)
Naturally all this led me off on a tangent looking up sea levels and global warming and the Maldives....and not coming up with a whole lot to answer my questions in the end. Still that wasn't the aim so overall: Day 6 goal achieved, and a good one at that! I can imagine doing this every day for a month for different places each day.
Various places I visited on my journey: The Maldives, Lonely Planet, The Guardian, New York Times.
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